The use of gellan gum to form gels in the presence of mono- or divalent cations is known. A particular utility of these gels is in the formation of gelled food products. Several publications have taught the use of gellan gum in such applications e.g., Sanderson et al., Gums and Stabilizers for the Food Industry 2, G. O. Phillips et al. (ed.), 201-210, Pergamon Press (1984); Sanderson et al., "Gellan Gum", Food Technology, 63-70, April 1983; and Japanese patent application 88051/1984, May 21, 1984. These publications suggest blending gellan gum with other hydrocolloids for the purpose of modifying gel texture. Example 7 of the Japanese application teaches an extruded noodle using gellan gum, locust bean gum, and xanthan gum in a 2:1:1 ratio at a total concentration of 0.8 wt.%.
Modification of the texture of xanthan/lbg gels resulting from adding a third component such as guar, agar, or carrageenan is described in P. Kovacs, Food Technology, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 26-30 (1973). The third component imparts some of its textural characteristics to the xanthan/lbg gel.